37 Return of the Emperor (1/2)

Before Arata knew, he fell asleep on his chair that night. The 6 AM chime came, and the player just knew the maintenance was finally over. He could check the forum but he might end up consuming an action time. He noticed a blanket was over him, and that Attori was already sleeping on his bed. He took the blanket off and woke his girlfriend up with kisses.

The usual morning in their school started with the girls ogling at Arata's way, as the king walked the hallways with his three guards: Attori to the right, Yukari to the left, and Cora walking behind them. The other two went to his house that morning for different reasons, but they went to school with him. The group was headed to Cora's classroom to drop her off since she was already eating breakfast in the king's home almost every morning.

Along their way, they passed by running students who were excited to see someone far off. It did not bother the rest, but Arata knew he heard Ruby and Tohru's names. He turned to Attori, but she seemed to feign her ignorance.

The events last night still bothered Arata as the two did not respond to his messages overnight. Just this morning, there was some sort of big news about them. However, his questions were answered when they reached their own classroom. The girls and boys were crowding near someone, and they could hear someone singing. The king knew it was Ruby's voice, but why would she be singing in such horrible manner?

”Hey, what's going on?” Arata went to them, and some of his classmates turned to him. He saw that the person they were crowding around was playing a video on his phone.

”Eh? You haven't heard? Hamada and Tohsaki went live last night. They were singing at a karaoke bar while drying themselves because of the rain.” The girl who sat next to Arata giggled. ”You should watch the whole two hours of their live to know more! Who would have thought they would go live and sing off-key!?”

”Listening to them right now sounds like asking for a headache.” Yukari pouted as she continued to watch along with the others.

”So the perfect woman still has some flaws...” Attori hummed as she listened to the song the two were singing.

”Well,” -Arata only laughed out- ”at least their off-key singing is in sync with each other.”

The crowd was later disbanded when the teacher came. Saturday classes proceeded without much activity but some questions during class time. The weekend break officially started, and so Arata and Attori prepared leaving for Hibiya again. However, they ran into Tohru who was walking alone.

”Yo, Acchan!” The she-jerk flashed a smile, but her face was flushed in embarrassment. She knew the king must have seen the live already, and it was quite petty for her to publicly display their bad singing skills. And even if he had not, the bags under her eyes was a proof of a night-long activity. ”Are you headed home?”

[An Affection Scene has started! Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru has the Affection Rate at 28%. Try to earn as much points as you can to raise Affection Rate with the date-able! Remember what they like to hear!]

Arata plastered a smile as the notifications had seemed to work properly now after the fix. It was reassuring now that he fails to keep track of his rates if he forgets to check the journal. Then again, he was happy to see that Sayaka had indeed gave them back.

”Want to walk to your stop? We're heading somewhere else.” The player almost giggled in an instant as he saw her. ”Good song choices, though.”

”That was a terrible night. We couldn't get a good place because I was broke. Ru didn't have money on her, too.” She laughed out. ”We were forced to turn the late-night karaoke into an all-nighter!” She shook her head with a sigh. ”Next time, immediately hand me money when you see me outside school.”

”Sounds like I'm being held up.” Arata frowned. He glanced at the smiling mad girl before chuckling towards Tohru. ”So? What happened last night? Did you guys make it up with each other?”

”Make up? What are you talking about?” Tohru waved her hand as if brushing the thought. ”There's no way I would be friends with her again. We just don't match anymore.” She brought her hand down. ”We were competing last night. Apparently, she still had a better voice than me.”

”Ah, but you were singing duets during the live.” Arata twitched.

”Yeah, but that was just for a few. Only when we want to sing the same song.” She shrugged, but her smug smile was nothing smug today. She grinned at the man, reaching out her hand. ”You liked the songs? Then I need to reimburse my expenses last night.”

”What!?” The player jerked back before shaking his head. ”Why are you always like this?”

The she-jerk turned to the side with a bitter grin. ”I got used to doing things without paying for them. I just realized my lifestyle isn't completely suited to my budget.” But she faced him again, moving her fingers towards her. ”But you're here now so please? Ahahaha, do I have to go sugar baby on ya, Mr. Millionaire?”

”Eh, but Ruru-chan has loads of money, too, right? Why don't you go sugar baby on her instead?” Attori chuckled as she swayed on her place a bit behind Arata. ”She's more used to your extortion, right?”

”Ugh,” Tohru stammered as she stared at the blue-haired girl. ”Ew. It's Ru. I don't want to feign intimacy with her.”

”But you want to feign intimacy with Arata?”

”N-Not at all. I'm remotely intimate with him. He's just a regular friend to me.” Tohru waved her hand. ”Not like we're actually sweet and stuff.”

The player scratched his head, but he still handed her 5, 000 JPY for the overnight stay. He sighed with a little smile. ”This is the last time, Tohru. If you want more money, work part-time in Imperial Kitchen. I'd help you with that.”